Queen in no mood to be late as her 90th birthday street party is held in the rain

Having arrived 11 minutes late at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, the Queen was in no mood to keep 10,000 rain-drenched charity workers waiting for a minute longer than necessary yesterday.

Anxious that her speech at The Patron’s Lunch should be on schedule, Her Majesty felt the driver of her open-topped Range Rover was processing too slowly down The Mall. At her urging, the Duke of Edinburgh banged on the roof of the car to alert him to pick up the pace, and the event was quickly back on track.

Her guests, of course, would no doubt have preferred the vehicle to crawl past, to give them the best possible view of their Patron, whom they had all turned out to wish a happy 90th birthday.

Watch | Prince Philip orders driver to speed up

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Yet the Queen, who hates being fussed over, regarded the event as a way of thanking them, rather than the other way around. “You are an example to us all,” she told them - words that are so often used about the Queen herself – as she paid tribute to their “commitment, selfless devotion and generosity of spirit”.

She also made it clear that after three months of birthday celebrations, which began on her actual birthday on April 21, it was time to move on and get back to work.

“I much appreciate the kindness of all your birthday wishes,” she said, “and have been delighted and moved by the many cards and messages I have received.

“How I will feel if people are still singing Happy Birthday to me in December remains to be seen!”

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are followed down The Mall by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince HarryCredit:
Dominic Lipinski/PA

Her grandson, the Duke of Cambridge, referring to her as “granny”,praised her “strong health and relentless energy; her sharp wit and famous sense of humour, and the fact that the Queen remains very much at the helm of our family, our nation and the Commonwealth”.

He also described her as someone “that world leaders can turn to for a first-hand perspective of the arc of history”.

Her first Prime Minister, of course, was Sir Winston Churchill, who had a favourite expression to motivate his staff when times were tough: Keep Buggering On.

The Duchess of Cambridge, in a dress by Roksanda Ilincic, curtseys to the QueenCredit:
Peter Nicholls/Reuters

It may well have been in the Queen’s mind as she and the Duke of York peeked through the net curtains on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in the late morning to see a Mall filled with ponchos.

Her grandson Peter Phillips had spent more than 18 months organising The Patron’s Lunch, to which all 612 of the charities connected to the Queen were invited (the fact that around 10 per cent of them had not taken up the offer suggested some had been put off by the controversial £150 per head ticket price, on top of travel and accommodation costs).

Mr Phillips knew that the one thing he could not control was the weather, and given the Queen’s previous history of rain on her parades, he was right to be worried. The Coronation in 1953, the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012, and now this.

Ponchos were the order of the dayCredit:
Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph

“I’m soaked,” he admitted as he watched people taking their seats. “It’s such a shame, it obviously would have been better if it was dry, but…the show must go on!”

And go on it did. Linda Jones, 46, from Shaftesbury in Dorset, who manages a charity called Siblings United, sat eating a Magnum ice cream in her poncho as rain collected on the table top and periodically disgorged into her lap.

She said: “It’s only a bit of rain. It’s England isn’t it? It’s not ruining the day. Nothing will ruin the day. And eating an ice cream is all part of it.”

A few tables down the Breconshire Girl Guides were obediently sitting at a table, looking as though they were on the world’s worst school trip. “It’s a bit wet but they have all got smiles on their faces,” said Nicola Matthews, their County Commissioner. “It’s a big experience for them, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and these are memories they will cherish for the rest of their lives.”

Guests tuck into their M&S hampersCredit:
Toby Melville/Reuters

They would have been less soaked had it not been for a decision to confiscate all umbrellas at the entrance gates, as well as selfie sticks, large cameras and food.

The Duke of Cambridge, who joined other members of the Royal family on a giant walkabout down The Mall after the Marks & Spencer hampers had been devoured, told one group: “'I see you are in your ponchos. Apparently you aren't allowed to bring umbrellas down here. I'm sorry, I think that's probably a security thing because of us.” Luckily for the Royal family, the rain had just about stopped by the time they started to work the crowds at 1.45pm.

The Duchess of Cambridge disclosed that even two-year-old Prince George had been concerned about the rain. She told 19-year-old Ella Hunter-Gibbs, from Surrey, that George opened the door in the morning and told her: “It’s not very nice out today Mummy, is it?”

The Duchess of Cambridge makes her way down The MallCredit:
AFP

“No it isn’t, George,” the Duchess had replied. She also said George had loved Trooping the Colour the previous day. “I’ve never seen him so excited!” she said. “He was absolutely thrilled and his little face lit up.”

Nikki Glanville, 38, from the Young Women's Trust, was so determined to get a selfie with Prince William that after he politely said no, she ran down the pavement next to The Mall so she could try again.

But the Prince twigged what she had done after he recognised her face.

"Haven't I seen you before?" he said. When she admitted she had, he said: "I always know a face."

The Duke of Cambridge on The MallCredit:
Peter Nicholls/Reuters

There was a lack of unity among the Royal family over the question of selfies though.

Further down The Mall, Lady Louise Windsor, 12, was making her debut walkabout to help her parents the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

The Duke of York with Princesses Beatrice (centre) and EugenieCredit:
Justin Tallis/AFP

Eve Pollecoff, 86, from Barnes, south west London, said: “I asked her if it was difficult talking to strange people. She said it was a bit daunting but she had a great example in her father. We told her she was doing a great job. "

The Duke of York was surprised to find Prince Albert of Monaco standing in the crowd, who said he was having “a great time”.

The only senior members of the Royal family who were absent were the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, who had been dispatched to Brimpsfield in Gloucestershire to take part in one of the many street parties taking place up and down the country at the same time as the London event.

Back on The Mall, the Duke of Cambridge, who was trying to shake every single hand as he made his way slowly to a stage at the Admiralty Arch end, where the speeches were to be made, had to told by his staff to hurry up as it was time for the Queen and the Duke to make their appearance, standing in the back of their Range Rover.

“Look at the hats there,” the Queen said to her husband. “That’s marvellous, wonderful,” he replied. But then Her Majesty, whose late arrival on Friday was caused by a traffic accident blocking the road, became impatient at their slow progress. “Go on, ask him,” she said to the Duke.

“What’s the matter, what’s wrong?” he replied.

“He is so slow. He won’t do anything. Go on, ask!”

The Queen and the Duke were in a hurryCredit:
Justin Tallis/AFP

And so her consort obeyed, banging on the roof above the driver’s head, much to the amusement of their grandson the Duke of Cambridge, who recounted the incident to his wife as they and Prince Harry made their way back down The Mall later, driving behind the Queen and the Duke in another open-topped state review vehicle.

“Did you hear what happened?” he asked her, smiling. Imitating the knock on the roof, the Duke said: “He told him to hurry up, to go faster.”

Once the royal party had taken their places in a covered seating area at the top of The Mall, it was time for a carnival-style parade.

Members of the Royal family watch the paradeCredit:
Justin Tallis/AFP

The Band of the Royal Marines, the pipers who followed them and a model of the former royal yacht Britannia were familiar enough, but then the parade got rather more eclectic. Split into different themes for each decade of the Queen’s reign, there was a giant kestrel, a person in a pig costume riding a tricycle, a Rubik’s cube, a giant mobile phone, a giant Gruffalo, another pig, and finally 11ft tall boy and girl puppets to represent the children of the Commonwealth.

It had an equally varied choice of music, not all of which is likely to have been familiar to Her Majesty. Pomp and Circumstance, Rule Britannia and Scotland the Brave would all have been hum-along tunes for her, but Chumbawumba’s Tubthumpin’, the theme from The A-Team and Lou Bega’s Mambo No.5 are unlikely to be on her personal playlist.

Part of the parade passes the Royal boxCredit:
Tim Rooke/Rex

By then, however, the sun had finally made a brief appearance, and the ponchos were off.

Jack Gordon, a 92-year-old Royal Navy veteran representing the Royal British Legion, said: "It was wonderful. It's a shame about the weather but hearing the bands did me the world of good." His wife June said: "He does stick things out. He sees things through. He was on a ship called the Indomitable - he's got the indomitable spirit." What with the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and 10,000 people who refused to be beaten by the weather, it was a spirit that had infused the entire day.

A day of soggy sandwiches

Tom Rowley, who spent the afternoon in St James's Park, writes:

In the event, drizzle became downpour. The grass was slippy, the drains blocked and the sandwiches soggy. But still they gathered in what everybody cheerfully acknowledged were the “cheap seats” (deckchairs could be had for loose change), sheltering beneath the trees or putting up golf umbrellas. One steward wore a poncho so tightly against his face he appeared to have been shrinkwrapped. A man from Mitcham dressed his dog in a poncho, its legs still shivering.

Read Tom's full report on how the great British public celebrated with the Queen here.

Charles enjoys egg sandwiches and sing-song

Prince Charles enjoyed a beer and a singalong in a picturesque English village as part of the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall made the short trip from their home on the Highgrove Estate to Brimpsfield, Glos.

It was feared a morning of downpours would put a dampener on the day, but sun came out as the Royals arrived at 1pm. They were met by more than 20 children who had dressed up as Kings and Queens for the event, which was also part of The Big Lunch, a nationwide event where communities across the country spend the day together.

Charles and Camilla then spent 45 minutes chatting to locals, with both treating themselves to egg and cress sandwiches.

On one of the tables were the Brimpsfield Players, a group of amateur dramatics who put on a show about Wales last year.

The group performed a version of Land of my Fathers, the Welsh National anthem, for Charles, who joined in with the song while holding a pint of local Cotswold beer.

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are spending the afternoon at a party in Brimpsfield, Gloucestershire. Meanwhile, at another party, in Yorkshire, India Sturgis reports:

And we're off! After a rousing rendition of God Save the Queen by an assembled crowd of about 300, the Rev. Ian Kitchen officially opens the Thorganby street party with help from 90-year-old resident Olive Rogers - a little behind schedule but to great enthusiasm.

Karen Garner, 50, an HR manager at Leeds University, has been up since nine this morning taping bunting to fences and unfurling trestle tables by the village hall.

"For me, it is about being a community together. Whether you are a royalist or not, it doesn't matter. To see all the flags, royal scarecrows that have been made [in aid of a competition here today] and people who have come.... that is what village life if about. It is amazing.

Duke to driver: hurry up, it's raining!

In his trademark impatient fashion, the Duke of Edinburgh appeared to get fed up with the slow crawl of the official car as it made its way to the party.

The Duke tapped on the roof as he stood at the back of the open-top "Queenmobile" and gestured with his hand to tell the driver to hurry up! The Queen glanced at her husband's antics before continuing to smile serenely and wave ...

Perhaps the Duke was annoyed at being caught in the rain. Happily, the sun came out in time for his journey back to Buckingham Palace.

Duke of Cambridge's tribute to Queen

The Duke of Cambridge has paid a heartfelt tribute to the Queen telling her "granny, thank you for everything you've done for your family" as the nation marked her 90th birthday.

As the weekend's celebrations marking the Queen's milestone drew to a close William told thousands of well-wishers enjoying the Patron's Lunch street party the Queen was someone "we all look up to in good times and in challenging moments to set an example".

The 10,000 guests gathered in The Mall for the event celebrating the Queen's patronage of more than 600 charities and organisations cheered.

Duke's praise for the Great British Public

The Duke of Cambridge is now on stage at the event, flanked by his wife and grandparents. He said told those gathered for the celebrations: "Thank you so much for showing that the great British public doesn't let a little rain spoil a good day out. It means so much to see everybody here."

After she raised eyebrows with yesterday's neon green outfit for Trooping the Colour, Her Majesty has opted for an equally eye-popping ensemble today - a fuchsia pink coat by one of her favourite designers, Karl Ludwig, and a matching hat by Angela Kelly.

Duchess in blue

Royal family head to the party

A convoy of cars has just left Buckingham Palace to take the Royals down to the soggy Mall to join the party. Prince Andrew decided to brave the rain and go on foot with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie who both look chic in striped outfits.

Prince Andrew and his daughters walked to the party while the rest of the royal party took carsCredit:
Getty

Princess Anne, Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are all out on the Mall now, chatting with members of the public and - in Prince Harry's case - posing for selfies.

"One wonders when the rain will stop"

Organisers relent on tough brollie stance

As we reported earlier on this blog, there are plenty of items banned from the picnic lunch being held on the Mall in London today, from umbrellas to big cameras and your own food. This has left some guests annoyed, seeing as it has been raining all morning.

According to a spokesman for the organisers: "People were advised not to bring umbrellas, selfie sticks, large cameras etc to assist with guests' sightline for the parade and the royal walkabout etc. As you know we have provided ponchos for all guests."

However, she added: "Earlier today, when the rain continued, we revised the instruction on umbrellas to allow small handbag size umbrellas. With regards to food, we have provided each guest with an individual hamper with food and refreshments from M&S, Pimms and PG Tips tea. "

Meanwhile Gordon Rayner reports:

Clare Balding has suggested to everyone that they take off their ponchos so it looks better on TV "because it's stopped raining". Except it hasn't.

Steady drizzle means that if people take off their ponchos and get wet, they will be steaming underneath them when they have to put them back on later. Oh dear.

Britain's tiniest street party?

At Legoland in Windsor, a very tiny street party is being held in Miniland. The scene took the resort’s model making team 650 hours to build, using around 30,000 bricks, including 520 to make the Miniland Royal Family alone.

The party is being held in Miniland’s own Mall in front of a 35,000 brick recreation of Buckingham Palace. Like the full size party, the mini version features rows and rows of picnic tables laden with hampers and champers, complete with Union Jack flags flying and bunting decorations.

As for the guests of honour, there is a 10cm high, version of Her Majesty surveying the party scene with Prince Philip in an open topped vehicle.

Ice cream in the rain

There are long queues for tents serving free tea but despite the less-than-summery weather, plenty of guests are tucking in to ice cream too. One of them, Audrey Asquith, from Reading, said: "I think this is wonderful, I would have walked through fire (to be here)."

She and her husband had bought their tickets for the Patron's Lunch and they had spent last night in London to ensure they would not be late for the start of the event.

She added: "We can't be bothering about the weather otherwise we wouldn't go anywhere in England."

Clare Balding has appeared to gee up the crowds and, speaking on the stage where William and Harry are expected to pay tribute to their grandmother, told the rain-soaked guests "you are rocking those ponchos".

She introduced the start of the parade by telling the spectators: "We are in a celebratory mood reflected in the choreography and indeed the colour of the parade, all in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen."

Long to rain over us?

No sign of any sunshine for the Queen's special day yet. Anne Nutt, a member of the Essex Scout executive, is at the party as the Harlow District Scouts won the Queen's Award for Voluntary Services last year.

Looking around at the large puddles forming in The Mall, Ms Nutt said: "I think today is absolutely marvellous and it's when the British people show their true colours - the true British spirit.

"People have come out from their warm, dry homes for four or five hours in the pouring rain.

"But it's been nice to meet people from other charities and the large number of ex-servicemen that are here."

Ms Nutt said she was making sure her lunch hamper was out of the rain: "I'm keeping it sealed to the last possible moment, we can all drink tea but soggy sandwiches is pushing it."

Parties across the land

The celebrations go way beyond the rainy party in central London today. The small village of Thorganby ten miles south of York is hosting what is well on to the way to being a spectacular day of festivities.

Bunting is being unfurled, raffle presents unpacked - a tidy consignment of wine and whiskey - and trestle tables dusted down in honour of Her Majesty's 90th official birthday celebrations.

Organisers are hoping the village's ranks of 200 inhabitants will be doubled by attendees, lured with the promise of a royal bake off and scarecrow competition, pies, cream teas and prosecco.

The event will be opened at 2.15pm by 90-year-old Olive Rogers, the event's guest of honour.

Organiser Lisa Warters, 44, a detective, is hoping to raise £1,500 for a defibrillator for the village too.

"I just thought, wouldn't it be fantastic to do something like this and get the village ablaze in Union Jacks," she says. "I love it all. I was working over the Queen's jubilee so didn't get to celebrate it properly. The idea is to get every generation, young and old, to attend."

"The Queen has unwavering moral standards. She represents this country and what normal everyday people believe in: family, hard work and supporting your country. I am not a massive royalists but she just represents us so well."

Street parties will be held across the country this weekend with councils waiving charges for closing roads and offering cash grants to help communities mark the Queen’s official 90th birthday celebrations.

A snapshot poll of councils by the Local Government Association reveals more than 1,000 street parties have been organised by residents across the country this weekend to mark the historic milestone.

Watch live: the party on the Mall

Flower power and legwarmers to come

The Queen and members of the family will make an appearance later to watch a colourful carnival-style parade, before taking to a stage where the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry are expected to pay tribute to their grandmother.

The parade will have themes for each era of the Queen's reign, kicking off with nautical-themed props and a giant puppet of the Royal Yacht Britannia.

A flower power theme will dominate the 1960s, while a 1980s neon vibe will feature Rubik's cubes and leg warmers.

A patriotic show amid the showers

A very dapper Joseph Afrane, 52, sporting a natty and patriotic suit as he arrives in Green Park where members of the public are gathered for their own picnics and to watch coverage of the Patron's Lunch on big screens Credit:
Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Tom Rowley, braving the rain writes:

Good morning from a rather soggy St James's Park, where Simple Minds's Don't You (Forget About Me) is now blaring from the speakers.

"Rain keeps falling," goes the refrain, "down, down, down." Well, quite. Not that it has deterred a few hundred hardy picnickers already gathered here, without tickets to the lunch but nevertheless determined to watch it here on the big screen - rain or not.

What will they be tucking in to? According to Sandra Ziles, of Marks and Spencer, who put the hampers together, there is a Scottish smoked salmon starter, smoked with oak from Sandringham, and sandwiches celebrating British ingredients from Welsh cheddar to Wiltshire gammon.

Yesterday's celebrations, in pictures

The celebrations began on Friday with a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral followed by Trooping the Colour yesterday. Today's Patron's Lunch, which will see guests tuck into a picnic hamper feast, is a celebration of the Queen’s patronage of more than 600 organisations in the UK and around the Commonwealth.